The invigilator shrieked, collapsed in a sprawl of robes and choking pain. By then Egar had already turned on the man-at-arms who d grabbed him. He locked up the grasping hand with a Majak wrestling trick, put the man into the trunk of the tree face-first. The other man-at-arms was a heartbeat too slow in reacting, and did entirely the wrong thing he went for his sword. Egar swung a shoulder in with his full body weight behind it, trapped the man s sword arm across his chest, and smacked him in the temple with the heel of one palm. At the last moment, something made him pull the full force of the blow, and the man went down merely stunned.

Meanwhile, the one he d put face-first into the tree was still on his feet, blood streaming from a broken nose, and he d also decided it was time to bring out the steel. He got the sword a handbreadth out of its scabbard and then the Dragonbane kicked his legs out from under him. He went down in a sudden heap. Egar stepped in and kicked him again in the head. That seemed to take care of things.

Behind him, the invigilator was still screeching and thrashing about on the ground in his robes like some kind of beached manta ray. An interested crowd was starting to form. Egar looked up and down the street for reinforcements, saw none, positioned himself carefully, and kicked the robed form hard in the guts. The screaming stopped, was replaced by a ruptured puking sound. Egar planted another solid kick, higher this time, and felt a couple of ribs snap against his boot. Then he crouched beside the invigilator, grabbed him by the throat, and dragged him in close.

Look up there, he said bleakly, and jerked the man s head upward for emphasis. Pay attention, because I m only going to go through this once. See that window? Second floor, third across from the arch? That s my room. It looks directly out onto the street, right here. Now I know that you people and the lady of this house have some prior history, but here s the thing: I don t fucking care. And more important, I don t want to have to look out of that window and see your scowling face fucking up my view. Got it?